


Oct 3rd, “Now? Now You Listen To Me?”

by Morpheus626



Category: The Pacific (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25062979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morpheus626/pseuds/Morpheus626
Summary: Fictober 2019.A sort of AU moment where Snafu can't stop Sledge before he gets his boots off on the battlefield.Warnings:a brief description of being on the battlefield, but not overly explicit.
Relationships: Merriell "Snafu" Shelton/Eugene Sledge
Kudos: 2





	Oct 3rd, “Now? Now You Listen To Me?”

Eugene would be paying for it later, he knew that much. He’d managed to tug off his boots before Snafu could stop him, and he was already wincing in sympathy.

“I’m gonna be fine. I just needed a second to dry them out,” Eugene scoffed, struggling to pull the boots back on. 

“Better get those on fast, we’re gonna be moving in a second,” he replied, watching Eugene’s shaking hands struggling with the boots. 

“I know that,” Eugene huffed, his eyes darting away from Snafu’s. Around them, the sound of flying bullets and mortars seemed never-ending, making it near impossible to focus on much of anything. 

And to top it off, he could tell Eugene was nervous. 

“Let me help you,” he tried. “Feet are probably swelling, you ain’t used to wearing those.” 

“It’s fine, I-” 

“K-3-5, GET MOVING!” a voice rang out beside them. 

“Let. Me. Help. You,” he tried to whisper it, but with the men around them getting up and moving, it hardly mattered. 

“Fine,” Eugene hissed. 

“Now? Now you listen to me, once we’re on the move. Boy, if you’ve got a girl at home I can’t even imagine what she goes through. Don’t listen to reason, man, or god, do you?” he sighed as he harshly shoved the boots back onto Eugene’s feet, swelling and wet from their approach on the beach, just like he’d figured. If there had been time, he’d have been gentle, but time wasn’t a luxury they had. 

“I do listen to God, thank you very much. Can even read the Word too….and I don’t have a girl, not that it’s any of your business,” Eugene huffed as they quickly stood and ran after the rest of the company, ducking as bullets whizzed around them. 

“You’re a rare breed then; a Marine that can read! If you can shoot too, then you’re the whole package! Someone else oughta snap you up then,” he teased as they slid into another crater, falling on top of Burgin. 

“Jesus Christ, both of you stop fucking flirting and focus on moving, will you?” Burgin shouted as a mortar went off near them. “Y’all can be cute later, when we’re not under fucking fire!” 

“We are not flirting,” they yelled back in unison. 

Burgin turned, rolled his eyes and shook his head before running out of the crater to their next destination, a burnt half of a plane melted to the ground of the airfield. 

It felt like there were a hundred planes and bits of broken structures to hide behind, like they’d never cross the airfield fully, and on one of their last stretches forward he thought he really hadn’t. 

He swore he’d been hit, sprawled in the dirt, waiting to feel…something. Whatever impending death felt like. 

Instead, all he felt was Eugene’s hand grabbing his, the other pulling at his shirt to pull him up off the ground. 

“You’re okay, you weren’t hit, we gotta move,” Eugene was talking a mile a minute, nearly dragging him to safety as he tried to keep up, barely able to grab his helmet as they ran past it. 

Finally, what felt like hundreds of hours later, in the safety of one of the few standing buildings on the airfield, he let himself watch Eugene, and think. 

It couldn’t be that easy, he figured. The chances were minuscule, that him not having a girl could possibly mean…

As he thought, Eugene looked up, clearly exhausted, but with just enough energy to offer him a small smile, and his heart fluttered. 

In his head, he was screaming at himself, ‘you can’t fall for the first guy that looks at you sweet, and you sure as hell can’t fall here.’ 

He suddenly understood how easy it had been for Eugene to not listen to him earlier, as he ignored his own internal yelling, and went to sit by Eugene, who welcomed him with yet another smile. It might all be for nothing, might not mean what he was hoping, but he couldn’t help but take the chance. 


End file.
